LetterMo Begins

I wasn't sure that I wanted to participate in LetterMo this year, but at the last minute, meaning just now, I decided I would take on the challenge. What is LetterMo? Copied directly from the LetterMo website, following is the explanation.

The Challenge

I have a simple challenge for you.

1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

All you are committing to is to mail 23 items. Why 23? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 23 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month.

Write love letters, thank yous, or simply notes to say that you miss an old friend. Send a fabric swatch from your new dress. A feather you picked up while on a walk. Whatever it is, let yourself step away from the urgency of modern life and think about an audience of one. Think of it as sending 23 little gifts. And, who knows, you might enjoy going to the mail box again.

Feeling intimidated? It’s fewer words than NaNoWriMo and I know how many of you do that. Join me in The Month of Letters Challenge.

Sincerely yours,

Think you want to give it a try? It all starts tomorrow so go sign up at LetterMo.com. It'll make you stretch your cognitive muscles. ~JLR~

Liberate your art

Good afternoon lovely peeps. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been feeling quite creative lately and in order to keep those creative juices flowing, I signed up for Liberate Your Art over at Kat Eye Studio. It's a postcard swap, but it's much more than that. The premise is that you create a piece of art whether it's via painting, sketching, drawing, photography or mixed media. Once you create your piece of art, you have it professionally printed onto a postcard (or you can make your own) and you send 5 postcards to the organizer of Liberate Your Art and she sends you 5 postcards in return created by 5 different artists.  She lists a resource page that will help you determine where to get your art printed, etc. Why don't you click on the above links and sign up for the project. It's an annual thing so it only happens once a year. Don't miss out. Get creative and send your art on a journey.  I will post mine once I get them on postcards. I can say that I created a doodly piece of art and I also have some colorful photography that anyone would love to receive.  But until then, I will share two postcrossings that I sent out a couple of days ago.

This dehydrated fellow is going to a young lady in Portugal.

I write: Dear Margarida, it is nearly midnight and I am wide awake. Earlier tonight I met with my psychic development group and then my firend and I went out to dinner at a place called Ghenkis Grill. this is my first postcard to Portugal. I'm always excited when I get a new country to send to. I live in Las vegas, but I traveled to Arizona last year for a weekend get-away. Many blessings! <3 JarieLyn

This picturesque beauty is traveling to India to be with Ashok.

I write: Dear Ashok, you don't see this type of landscape in Las Vegas unless it's a garden in somebody's backyard. I hope this card meets your expectations for your request of flora and fauna. You must see all kinds of amazing mail working in the postal department. Wishing you much happiness. <3 JarieLyn

I always sign my name with a heart first. It makes me feel like I'm creating more love for the universe when I do that. 

Go have an amazing day my lovely peeps. I adore every single one of you.

<3 JarieLyn

An angel to watch over you

Good afternoon lovelies. This morning I woke up to an awesome text from my esthetician telling me to come in to the salon for a complimentary microdermabrasion facial. Well who am I to turn that down. It's normally $65.00 for this service and I got it for free. Not only that, but she also gave me a couple of gift certificates to give to my friends. ( I was already planning to buy one for somebody) So, I tipped her $50.00 because really what she gave me was worth four times that amount. I am one blessed lady. What does this have to do with mail? Well, nothing but it is a prelude to the first postcrossing card I'm about to show you.

Outgoing Mail:

This little angel is on her way to Natasha in Russia.

I write: Dear Natasha, I'm sending this angel to watch over you. Of course, there are angels all around you all ready, but one from me to you is special. I send you positive thoughts with divine love from my heart to yours. May the angels keep blessing you all the days of your life. <3 Peace and happiness to you. <3 ~JarieLyn

These two beautiful creatures are headed to Svetlana in Belarus.

I write:  Hello Svetlana, it's currently raining here in Las Vegas, Nevada where I live. We don't get much rain here in the desert so it is a nice welcome. I turned 50 last year. Yikes! I am a positive thinker. I believe in the law of attraction and that we create our circumstances by what we focus on. I talk to angels and spirit guides and I am currently studying to become a Reiki Master. I love my life. <3 sending positive vibes your way. <3 JarieLyn

This postcard is going to Emma in the UK.

I write: Hello lovely Emma. I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada but I travel to California a lot, which is where the image on this postcard is located. Congratulations on becoming a pediatric nurse. I am studying to become a Reiki Master. I believe in both Eastern and Western healing modalities. Love from my <3 to yours. JarieLyn

This touristy card is traveling to Megan in Taiwan.

I write: Hello megan, I have lived in Las Vegas since 1998. There's lots to do here, especially for photographers. We have one of the best camera clubs in the world, with over 300 active members. You can check us out at www.nevadacc.org. We have phenomenal photographers in our club and you can see some of their photos on the website. Wishing you much joy. <3 JarieLyn

This linen postcard is headed to Australia for Amber.

I write: Hi Amber, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I believe this is an actual vintage postcard of Hoover Dam, not a reproduction. (not 100 % sure) I spend most of my days creating art, blogging, reading, and watching TV. Tonight I'm looking forward to watching Vanderpump Rules. :) Make your life awesome. <3 JarieLyn

Clearly, not the norm

Hello my lovely peeps. I've been in such a creative mood lately. Every day I wake up and I want to create art. The only downside to that is that I can't really draw details or paint details. (well, sometimes I do okay) But I keep slapping some watercolors on some pages because I love how the colors look. It makes me feel cheerful. I never know what it is that I want to do but I feel guided to just create. And so I do. I don't have an art journal per se' but when I'm creating it feels like I'm making a visual piece for a journal.  The other day I was creating and I decided I would write a pen pal letter on my pages and send it in a clear postcard sleeve. This is clearly stepping outside of my normal box.  But, I wanted to make my letter stand out, be different, and at the same time spread some colorful cheer across the country for the postal workers and for my dear friend to whom it's written.

The computer screen does not show how colorful this really is.  The only disadvantage to sending a letter this way is that if you use vintage stamps like I did, they don't stick very well to the plastic. I had to secure the edges with packing tape, leaving the body of the stamp alone so that the post office can postmark the stamps. And of course, you know that everyone who sees this envelope during its journey will try to read what it says. So, if you're a private person or you have some juicy secret to share, than I suggest leaving that for the middle pages so no one can intrude upon your privacy.  Of course, you could always cover up the writing with stickers and washi tape.

On the last piece of painted paper I wrote a couple of quotes. This is the back of the envelope. You know, it still makes it fun, but again, I'm not revealing any secrets to the universe. Yeah, the good stuff is in between. Don't you wish you could read it all?  

So make some art, write a letter on it and send it in a clear envelope so you can share your creation with the postal workers.  I used a 5 x 7 postcard sleeve for the envelope.

Have a fun and creative day!

Oh Happy Mail Day!

It's a good sign when I open my mailbox and spy anything in there at all. I always get so excited when I see colorfully decorated envelopes. It means that somebody put extra effort into their correspondence just for me. Well today, I'm feeling all sun-shiny and giddy because I received two colorful envelopes from the same person.

The top envelope contained a chatty letter which I am totally stoked about. The letter contained some  good news and now I feel like a kid who's waiting to go to Disneyland for the first time. I'm like, Hurry Up Already!  Ha Ha.

The second envelope contained some vintage postcards and vintage ephemera. Thank you!!! I love it all. It doesn't take much to please me. 

Finally, I received this card from a postcard swap I joined on Swap-Bot. 

Mostly, I'm just super stoked at the news in the letter. Thanks for making my day. 

First Outgoing Postcrossings of The Year

I did not realize that it had been so long since I mailed a Postcrossing. According to my profile, the last postcrossing I sent was to Russia in September of 2014. No wonder my mailbox has been empty. I just haven't been writing or sending anything to receive anything in return. It's true what they say, you've got to give exactly what you want to receive. It's just how the universe works, not just in the postal system but in all areas of life. It's universal law.

I decided to mail five at a time to start with since I am allowed 14 to travel at this time.  The first postcard is headed to The Russian Federation to a woman named Vera.

 Vera likes anything related to Christmas and prefers those types of postcards. I got this one from the Pottery Barn of all places. I was there buying my brother a wedding gift and saw a tin of vintage reprodcution postcards so naturally, I bought it.  I didn't write much to Vera because I don't think she speaks english. I wrote her name in artistic syle and said a big hello. I wished her happiness and love and that is all.

I had to honor the King's birthday month by sending out at least one card with his image. The Elvis postcard is going to Colorado to Mary Esther. I told her what a fan I've always been and how I went to Graceland for my honeymoon which was a dream come true.

This postcard is going to Stefan in Germany. He really wanted a postcard that showed football or football stadium, but unfortunately, I don't have any postcards that represent football. The Kentucky Derby racetrack isn't exactly football, but it's an american sport. I told him how going to the Kentucky Derby had been on my bucket list for years and I finally realized that dream in May of 2014. I told him how exciting and amazing the energy was.

Jac in the Netherlands loves collecting postcards depicting churches. Well, since I live in Las Vegas, I had to send him a postcard with a wedding chapel on the front,  Wedding chapels have always been a huge thing in Vegas. It's part of our history and one of the things we're famous for. Elvis once married at the Little Church of the West Wedding Chapel. Again, I'm honoring the Kin'gs birthday month.

Emily in China requested art cards or cards with plants and animals. I'm not particularly crazy about this card and I think it's ugly. However, I think it will be perfect for Emily. I talked about my parents and how they go out dancing at least four times a week and how much I wish I could do the same.

Well that's about it in a nutshell. Speaking of nuts, I'm craving some almonds right now.

Have a great day everyone and I will touch base on the next round or whatever.

Doggone Postal Delivery!

I love sending and receiving snail mail, but one of my passions is collecting vintage postcards. There are many reasons for the WHY of my postal hobby, but it's hard to explain to non-mail enthusiasts the signifigance of a postmarked card that is handwritten with a note. Even if the note is brief, you still feel the love that went into it. I mean, the writer had to etch out some time to write which means he/she was thinking about the recipient. A postcard can show the sense of humor of the sender and the writing can elude to the personality of the person. More than that though, the writer is recording a specific moment in time, making a historical record of his environment. That's why postcards are like little treasures to me. It makes me imagine the lives of the people who corresponded with one another. 

Currently, I have over 4,000 vintage postcards. Yes, I know. I'm a little crazy. I recently obtained the ones in the above photo and they are currently my faves. They are so cute. I get tickled every time I look at them. Don't they make you smile too?

I love the wit in this one. This postcard is over 100 years old. 

Sniff! Sniff!

Darling, I'm lonely without you. Wish you were here.

This is the one that drew me in. So sad looking. This is my favorite one because of the note on the other side. See for yourself.

Postmarked March 24, 1910.

To: Miss Christina Anderson

City

The note reads: I guess this is pretty true. Arthur

I think he must have had a crush on Christina who may or may not have returned his feelings.

I feel bad for him and I wonder if he ever wrote to Christina again or if she wrote to him. 

I sure wish more people today wrote letters, especially love letters. I am a romantic at heart and I am crazy about love letters. My first boyfriend wrote me love letters all the time. I guess I miss that.

Love to all, XOXO...........

Do Not Disturb, by Giani Versace

Good morning fellow bloggers and mail enthusiasts. I've got a busy day ahead of me. Aside from my normal household chores, I have a going away party to attend this evening on the other side of town. I'm going to write a beautiful letter and give it to the person who is leaving Las Vegas. I'm so sad because this person is my mentor, my spiritual teacher and an exceptional human being.

In honor of me being so busy today, I thought I'd show you a postcard I'm sending out today for a swap. It is titled, Do Not Disturb, by Gianni Versace. I think it's quite appropriate, don't you?

I have the whole series of Versace postcards which I found in a little thrift shop in Pahrump, Nevada nearly two years ago. I've sent a few out in Postcrossings but there's a part of me that thinks these could be worth some money because of Gianni Versace being a famous designer and then being murdered. I'm saving the best cards for myself and who knows, there may be a market for it someday.

I wish everyone a super great day. Until the next time..................love and mail, XOXOXO

100 Questions

I just finished my first swap of the new year, 100 question snail mail swap via Swap-Bot. There were 100 questions that I had to answer and send to one partner. Although some of my answers are quite short and to the point, I did my best to make it creative so it at least looks more interesting than my answers actually are. I had fun working on this project, but it was a lot more work than I anticipated.

I took an artist's pad and tore it into several quarters, painted each page, and then put it together like a book by punching a couple of holes in it and securing it with twine.

The book from a sideview.

For question number four, I cut out some words and an image from a magazine, as well as wrote a few words. Short and to the point.

Halfway through and my answers get a little more detailed. I'm no artist, but I do enjoy slopping paint on a page.

Sage advice from yours truly. I said the first thing that came to mind.

I can't show you every single page or every question and answer, but you can see the colorful pages stacked here. I hope the recipient appreciates all the love that went into this swap.

Happy New Year!

(this is not my photo. I snatched it from google. If it's yours, let me know and I will give credit to you)

Happy New Year to all of my pen pals and mail enthusiasts. I have a confession to make. I got extremely lazy with my writing during the latter half of 2014. I just needed a break. That's not really true either....I didn't need a break. I just got preoccupied with various activities and I got sidetracked.

I plan to keep the blog going in 2015 and answer all of my pen pal letters that are way over due.

I wish everyone a very successful 2015 whatever that means for you. We are all different so our definition of what a successful year is will  be different too. Cheers to a new year and new adventures.